Broken
by cecilia.clare
Summary: Tough or Broken or somewhere in the middle.


**AN: for those of you who did not read New Kid, this story is about Blu, she is Spot Conlon's little sister **

Blu, she had always been tough, really tough. She had been in the life of a newsie for a long time now. She had even been through the refuge. She felt that she always had something to live up to being a Conlon. Everyone said that her leg would heal quickly and soon she would be walking again. For once in her life, Blu felt afraid. What if she was never able to walk the same way again? Blu had been using the crutch for months now. This had become her new normal. She woke to the crinkling of newspaper beds as all the newsies started to stir. She just laid there staring at the ceiling, she finally crawled out of bed grabbing her crutch. She ran her fingers through her dirty blond hair, before walking out of the lodging house. She stretched her arms in the brisk autumn air. She stumbled a little over her crutch and grumbled. She limped along the street toward the square. She walked into the empty square, she walked over to the paper wagon. She set down her crutch and climbed up the freshly printed papers. She stood up on the wagon and watched the rising sun. She breathed in the cool air. She felt free up here, without her crutch, no newsies, no noise. Just peace, she could just be. Suddenly she heard someone yelling,

"Blu! What are you doing up there! You could fall!" yelled Davey horrified. Blu rolled her eyes and gave one last look at the rising sun. Davey ran over to the wagon,

"Catch!" Blu jumped off the wagon into Davey's arms. She patted his shoulder as he just held her in surprise,

"Alright overprotective, you can put me down now." Davey set her down, she grabbed the side of the wagon to keep from falling over. Davey grabbed her crutch and handed it to her.

"What were you even doing up there?" he asked worriedly.

"When you have over fifty brothers, a girl needs a moment of peace every once in a while." As other newsies started to fill the square, she looked up at Davey who still had worry written all over his face. She put her hand on his shoulder,

"I'm fine Davey, really. I just like the quiet, away from all the noise." Davey gave her a goofy grin before the two went about their business. They found Les, and they were all together. After lining up for papers, the three of them walked out the square together. Blu limped along with a little more than normal, suddenly she felt really tired. Davey stopped seeing his sister had stopped panting. He ran over to her Les following after,

"Blu, are you ok? You don't look so good."

"I'll be fine," muttered Blu, trying to catch her breath. She started to take a few steps,

"See I'm fine." her legs gave out underneath her. She fell face first to the pavement, she tried to push herself back up. Suddenly everything went black.

Davey saw his sister stop and ran to her side. He asked if she was ok. She muttered that she was fine and started to walk forward and then collapsed. He fell to the ground next to her, he shook her shoulder and quietly called her name.

"Blu, Blu!" She was still breathing but completely passed out. He rolled her over onto her back, and then picked her up. He ran back into the square, he pushed through the crowd until he made it to the lodging house. He carried her over to her bed and gently laid her down. He pulled off her hat,

"Les, stay here, I'm going to go get help." Les nodded worriedly and knelt next to Blu. Davey dashed out of the lodging area and ran into the crowd of newsies. He ran out to Crutchie and Jack,

"I need help, Blu passed out." Both Crutchie and Jack looked at each other before following after Davey into the lodging house. Les was still sitting by Blu's side, The three of them ran over to Blu's side. Crutchie put his hand against her forehead, then he tested her pulse.

"She is getting sick, I had this same thing happen when I was first getting sick."

"Crutchie… what are you talking about? What do you mean sick?"

"She is getting polio. It's in her leg when Snyder soaked her, it started the sickness. She has a fever and her body is really stiff, and that's why she passed out." Davey looked down at the limp body of his sister. He rested his hand on top of her head. Davey bit his lip knowing his sister's life would be forever changed.

"If the symptoms continue, I don't know how far it could spread through her body. She could stay with the crutch, or we would need to get a wheelchair." Les grabbed Blu's hand.

"All we can do right now is wait for her to wake up, and try to keep her out of the cold. Also, we need to try and keep her muscles limber. So I would take her back to your house." Davey nodded, Blu started to stir crinkling the old newspapers. The four boys looked over Blu who slowly opened her eyes.  
"Why am I in bed, why is everyone looking at me funny?" Blu started to prop herself into a sitting position before Davey put a hand on her shoulder stopping her. She laid back down groaning,

"Why does everything hurt?" The four boys looked to each other, then back at Blu.

"We'll be right back Blu. Ok.?" She nodded her head as she watched the Davey, Jack, and Crutchie walked out of the room. Les continued to hold her hand, she closed her eyes and just rested.

"How are we supposed to tell her?"

"I should be the one to tell her," said Davey, Crutchie, and Jack both nodded in agreement.

"I know this is going to be hard Davey, but you need to rip off the band-aid and just tell her. That's how they told me." Davey took a deep breath and nodded. The three of them walked into the room over to Blu. She just lay there motionless breathing in and out. Davey felt horrible for his little sister, he walked over to her bed and knelt down next her. She opened her eyes and looked up to Davey looking over her.

"What's with the face, Davey? You're looking at me like I'm your lost dog." Davey smiled, but then his face fell.

"I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"So you know how your leg hasn't been working too well?"

"Gee, I hadn't noticed."

"You are getting polio, we don't know how bad it's going to get." Blu's mouth closed, she looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm gonna take you back to my house, so we can help you." Blu just held still as Davey scooped her up into his arms. The three of them moved through the crowd, Race saw her, and she buried her face in Davey's chest. She just felt helpless. She just closed her eyes and went to sleep. Soon she woke up in a warm bed, covered in a blanket. She realized that she was in Davey's apartment, she tried to sit up before Davey stopped her. She laid back down and stared at the ceiling.

"Do you feel ok?"

"No, not really, everything hurts and I could never be able to walk again, so…" she trailed off starting to feel the tears starting to come. She bit down on her lip hard, trying not to cry.  
"Davey, you should go and sell."

"I'm not gonna leave,"

"Just go! Ok, Davey?!" Davey put his hand on her shoulder before getting up and leaving. The seconds passed slowly, Blu closed her eyes and went to sleep with nothing better to do. Soon she heard the door creak open, she opened her eyes to see Davey walking in. Behind him walked in Race, his hands were behind his back, and he gave a slight smile.

"I'm sorry Blu, but I have to run out with Les. Race came to keep you company." Blu smiled at Race, he came over and sat on the edge of her bed. Davey and Les walked out of the door. Race placed a small blue flower in her lap.

"I found this today while sellin' papes. I saw Davey carryin' you out of the square. So I went to Crutchie, he told me what happened. I'm really sorry, Blu." Blu smiled,

"It's ok, Race, there's nothing anyone could have done." Blu grabbed Race's hand, and he looked up from the floor. The two of them sat in silence, Blu was glad to have someone around. Soon Race had to leave and Davey was back. Blu was going to be bed-bound for a while. She never felt good, the day's all melted together, every day the same. Massages, vomiting, sore throat, and always tired. The days dragged into weeks, which melted into months. She could tell she wasn't going to get better anytime soon. Different newsies would come to visit, sometimes bringing her small gifts. Race was the most frequent visitor, he would stop by every day after work just to keep her company. She could tell that her little brother was very worried.  
Blu woke up in the middle of the night again. She stared up at the ceiling starting to lose all hope she would ever be able to get out of bed ever again. So she did something she never really did. She prayed she prayed for her brothers, she prayed for Spot, and then she prayed she could be healed. She fell back asleep, everything still hurts. She slept through Davey and Les waking up and leaving for work. She slept through the sunrise, the sunset. She slept through breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She slept the day away. She finally woke up to the sound of someone calling her name and gently shaking her. She looked up to see it was Race with a big grin on his face.

"What's with the face?" she joked.

"I brought you something!" he answered excitedly.

"Well are you gonna show me or are we gonna keep talking about it?" He ran out of the room and then dragged someone in behind him. She saw the confused face of her older brother behind Race.

"Spot!" yelled Blu, Spot ran over to her bed and wrapped her in a hug.

"I'll give you two a minute." Race walked out of the room smiling.

"Are you ok? Do you want me to stay? I can go get something for you if you need!" Blu smiled and grabbed her older brother's hand.

"Just stay." Spot smiled and nodded and sat down on the bed.

"Last night I woke up. I prayed I prayed for you." Spot looked over at Blu.

"Ya know Spot, even though Davey is also my brother. I will always love you, I couldn't ask for a better big brother."

"I couldn't ask for a better little sister. You gave me a reason to be a good big brother, a good leader, and a good person." Blu crawled into a sitting position groaning, she wrapped her arms around her big brother. The two of them sat there hugging each other. Spot stayed with his sister all day every day, he never left her side. Months passed and Blu was still never able to get out of bed, but she could sit up now. She got a little better every day, one day Davey, Les, and Spot came in.

"Alright, Blu! We are going on a field trip!" Blu sat up in bed excitedly,

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise!"

"Well, are we gonna stand here, or go!" Spot came over and picked her up out of bed. The four of them walked down the street, towards the square. They walked into the empty square. Blu looked around,

"Why did we come to an empty Newsies Square?"

"Surprise!" all the newsies jumped out of their hiding places, Blu almost fell out of Spot's arms. Everyone laughed as Blu smiled from ear to ear.

"What's all this?"

"We decided to have a party, so all of your brothers could see you. Since you're feeling better," answered Spot.

"Thanks, guys!" she wrapped her brother in a hug.

"We have one more thing for you, a gift actually," Davey said smiling. The crowd of newsies parted to reveal a wheelchair, with a blue blanket in the arms of Race who stood next to it. Blu covered her mouth in surprise,

"Oh my gosh, it's beautiful."

"Now you can come back to work!" said Spot with an excited look on his face. He carried her over to the wheelchair and sat her down in it. Race handed her the blanket which she covered her legs with. She practiced rolling around in the square. Then she talked to all the newsies, she was definitely excited to be back. Soon she had gotten the hang of her wheelchair and she was zipping around the square. After a while, everyone was distracted and she rolled out of the square. She looked out on the street where the sun was setting. She felt the cool breeze blowing against her face. She tried to climb out of her wheelchair to stand up, she couldn't move her legs anymore. She fell to the ground in front of her wheelchair. Davey ran out beside her, where she was trying to push herself back up.

"Blu! Are you ok? What were you trying to do?" Davey picked her up and set her back in her wheelchair. She rubbed her arms that had been scraped from the fall. Tears started to form in her eyes in frustration.  
"But really Blu, what were you trying to do?"

"I was trying to stand up."

"But you know you can't do that anymore."

"I know that," she growled wiping angry tears from her face. Davey crouched down in front of her wheelchair, as she continued to try to keep the tears from coming. Davey put his hands on her shoulders.

"Why were you trying to stand up, if you knew that you can't anymore?"

"I wanted to be normal again Davey! I want to get up, move around and run. I don't want to sit for the rest of my life!" She put her face into her hands crying.

"I don't want to be broken anymore," she mumbled into her hands.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's ok, you're not broken."

"What are you talking about! Look at me, I am so broken, I can't walk anymore!" yelled Blu,

"We are all broken in our own way. I'm broken because I spend too much time worrying about you and Les. I may not look broken on the outside, but I'm very broken on the inside." Blu pulled her face out of her hands,

"Really? You don't look broken to me," whispered Blu. Davey wiped the tears from her face.

"Trust me, I'm even more broken than you think you are. At least you are really tough, and you are optimistic all of the time. You're helping to fix me every day." Blu smiled,

"I still feel broken, I can't climb anymore. I can't get up high anymore." Davey stood up,

"I think I can help with that." Davey picked up Blu in his arms, and then put her on top of his shoulders. Blu looked out in awe at the sunset. She felt the cool breeze on her face, and she saw the light covering the whole city, bathing it in a warm glow.

"How's the view?"

"It's beautiful, Davey. Thank you." Davey set her back down in her wheelchair and then crouched back down in front of her.

"Crutchie also told me, you could not be wheelchair bound forever. He was in a wheelchair for a while too. You could heal and be back on your feet." Blu looked up in surprise,

"Why didn't you lead with that!" she laughed.

"Thought you should learn a life lesson first." he joked. Blu wrapped her brother in a hug,

"Thanks, Davey."

"For what?"

"For helping to fix me." Davey pulled his sister in tighter, the two of them sat hugging in the sunset. Blu knew that she would never be the same again, but with the help of her brothers, she could get a little stronger every day. Blu realized that everyone felt broken sometimes, even the toughest of people felt broken sometimes. Blu would always feel a little broken, but we all do sometimes. It takes true strength to admit when we are broken, but even more, strength to admit your brokenness.


End file.
